Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

heading towards the woods again, and decided to surprise him.
    Staff moved quickly, and Burke kept out of sight, curious about what Staff was up to, moving farther away from the beach area, toward the edge of the resort. Within a few minutes, the fence separating Cockatoo from the co-ed resort next door came into view. He could hear voices carrying from the other side of the fence.
    Staff stopped and put the binoculars up to his face, concentrating on something— or someone— on the other side of the fence.
    Not likely a bird with all that noise over there. Burke felt his pulse quickening. What was Staff up to? Why had he said he was bird watching?
    Burke slunk up toward the fence, moving slowly so as not to get Staff's attention. As he got closer, he saw something that surprised him beyond words. He had to clamp a hand over his mouth to not shout out his shock.
    Bird watching! Staff had his sights trained right on a bird after all. Of the female sort. Human female. And topless!
    What the fuck? Burke thought he might be sick. Why was Staff ogling some topless woman? He thought back to the night before. Staff hadn't wanted to have sex with him. Was it because he wasn't really interested in men? Burke was confused. He turned his attention to Staff, who alternated staring through the binocs and writing in his little notepad.
    What was he writing? Burke noticed the woman was writing on a pad as well. Every time she wrote, Staff made notes.
    Was he watching her pen and not her... boobs?
    There was a glimmer of hope, Burke thought and watched this curious behavior.
    Another shout from the other side of the fence caught Burke's attention. The topless woman waved to a female friend and put her notebook away under her lounger.
    "You've got fifteen minutes to get dressed for the next round, Betty, what are you waiting for?" The friend's voice carried over the fence to Burke.
    "Just putting a few finishing touches down. I think it's going to be a winner!" The woman— Betty— grabbed the notebook, waving it in the air.
    "You win the competition every year. Why mess with a good thing?"
    "Ya think?" Betty scribbled something on the pad. Burke noticed Staff made another note on his pad.
    "I do know you'll lose if you don't get there on time," the other woman said and beckoned with an impatient wave before moving out of Burke's sight.
    "Coming!" Rita leaped off the lounger and headed away from view.
    Burke watched Staff put the binocs down and turn away from the fence, back toward the main resort area. He checked his watch and began to move quickly. Burke knew they were scheduled to meet in two minutes. Clearly Staff hadn't seen Burke following or watching him. Staff broke into a jog and Burke took a chance.
    "Hey, Staff!"
    Staff stopped in his tracks and looked around. With the trees, it was probably difficult for him to figure out where the voice came from. "Burke?"
    Burke moved into view. "Hey, I saw you head in this direction."
    Staff's face clouded over, and maybe a little bit of pink appeared on his cheeks. Burke decided to press on.
    "Birdwatching again? Maybe you noticed that red-breasted brunette over on the other side of the fence...."
    "Oh, Burke it's not–"
    Staff's guilty expression was enough. Burke didn't wait for an answer. He ran for his own room.
    CHAPTER 5
    Burke slammed the door shut and threw himself on the bed. He knew he shouldn't have come here. No, that wasn't the problem. The problem was thinking someone sexy and interesting and such a good kisser would really be interested in him. If he wanted to have fun at a place like this he needed to run around naked and play stupid games around the pool, or butter up some older guy. It was no different from a bar. The guys were looking for all the same things, only here at the beach it was easier to see what was under the shirts and pants. But people were as shallow as everywhere else he'd gone. As soon as he got home he'd figure out some other way of trying to meet someone who liked the same things he did, books and films and maybe he'd even learn something about wine. That was nice, drinking good wine with Staff.
    Staff . Just the name made Burke angry. He got off the bed and opened the mini-bar. He had his hand on a tiny bottle of designer-brand vodka that probably cost fifty dollars. He debated how much he needed a drink and began to pull it out of the slot that would automatically charge his credit card.
    A sharp knock on the door stopped him. "Burke!